


a stroll back to town

by theredhoodie



Category: Sanditon (TV 2019)
Genre: Canon Compliant, F/M, Fluff, Missing Scene
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-23
Updated: 2019-10-23
Packaged: 2020-12-28 17:48:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,442
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21140723
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/theredhoodie/pseuds/theredhoodie
Summary: A missing scene immediately following the wondrous 1x08 clifftop kiss and Sidney and Charlotte's return to town.





	a stroll back to town

**Author's Note:**

> I was thinking about this the other night and then all of a sudden everyone on tumblr and on here was like "what do you think happened?!" so here's my take!

They stood in the tugging clifftop wind, heads tilted toward each other, hands resting atop each other’s jackets. Sidney’s, rough and stiff under Charlotte’s small hands. Charlotte’s much softer and gentler under his own.

“Sidney,” Charlotte said, her breath nearly completely taken away from her, eyes lingering shut, desperately wanting  _ more _ .

He smiled, ever so slightly, at hearing his name on her lips. “Yes?”

She opened her eyes slowly, the tip of her tongue momentarily seen between her lips before she took the tiniest of steps back, nearly drawing him with her. He would have gladly followed, wanting nothing more than to keep her here with him, digging his hands into her wild hair and kissing her until the sun set. But all fanciful desires aside, he was equally contented to have this moment with her. 

Charlotte did not typically indulge in selfish behavior. It wasn’t in her nature, but even as her good sense was telling her they should now part and head back to town, keeping a respectable distance from each other, she found herself doing the opposite.

She surprised him by tugging at the lapels of his jacket and kissing him, soft and nervous at first, but accepting of his more experienced guidance. His hands hugged her waist and one of her arms slipped between his jacket and vest, pulling their bodies closer. 

Her body flushed with heat from her toes to her cheeks.

Before long, the kiss ended gently, lingering far longer than the first. Hands slowly moved to more respectable places even as their lips continued to pull toward each others like an inexplicable force. Sidney’s breath shuddered out of his body as Charlotte’s hands rested for a moment on his abdomen.

Charlotte’s heart and stomach seemed to flip and twist on their own accord, though the feeling was not unpleasant. She stepped back once again, this time with more conviction. “I think, perhaps, we should continue our walk to town,” she said, breathing harder now than when they’d arrived at the clifftop.

Sidney took a few measured breaths. “Yes, perhaps we should.” And then he smiled because, God willing, he found himself happy for the first time in a very long time. He was finally capable of accepting that, and he was henceforth taken by Charlotte completely, like falling.

She smiled in return, clasping her hands together before her, as if worried what else they may decide to do if she didn’t control them. The air seemed to hum all around them as they walked, having worn out all subject of smalltalk on their way up here. So they walked in companionable silence, one occasionally glancing at the other while they weren’t looking, smiles playing on their faces all their way back to town. Halfway back, Charlotte dropped her hands, planning on busying herself with the childish activity of pinching the fabric of her skirt in between her fingers to give herself something to do.

She had not anticipated the closeness of Sidney, nor the way her heart leaped when their hands brushed against each other. Sidney glanced down as if shocked, and she just so happened to look up at that moment. They flashed nervous smiles at each other before Charlotte cast her eyes toward the rolling green before them.

“Do you suppose,” she started, breaking their silence, “that I may look forward to another dance with you tonight at the Midsummer ball?”

“With certainty,” he said, perhaps a little too quickly. His mind was whirling with emotions and thoughts he hadn’t had all that much time to process just yet. Feelings that swelled in his breast and made him realize how much he had been missing before circumstance brought Charlotte to Sanditon.

Charlotte, likewise was trying to keep her feet moving and head level as new bursts of feelings and thoughts she’d never previously felt came rushing to the surface. “Do you suppose Georgiana will feel well enough to attend?” She was desperately trying to steer the conversation to something more neutral, but she had the chance to let slip her fledgling emotions before she had a moment to formulate them into something more equivalent to Sidney’s words spoken the night before.

“I think so, yes.”

The town came into view. They really had just bypassed the shops, going straight through to the cliffs without even noticing. Charlotte was not rushing to leave his company, but she also wasn’t certain what would happen if they continued walking through down in the other direction. Her head swirled around their kisses atop the cliff and her cheeks flushed once again. It did not help matters when Sidney quite deliberately slid his hand into hers, their palms flat against each other for the briefest of moments before they came into the eyes of too many passersby.

Her breath caught in her throat and Sidney gave her an assured smile as they reached the shops.

“I would wait for you but I have some matters to attend,” he said, as they came to a halt in front of the dress shop.

Charlotte swallowed and glanced from the window and the clothes inside to Sidney, standing tall before her. “Actually, I’m feeling quite winded from our walk. I may return to Trafalgar Place to rest before returning to get my dress.” It was not a lie, as she did in fact feel winded, though not entirely from the walk itself.

He paused before he seemed to come to his senses. “Of course. I was going to stop in and see Georgiana…”

There was an awkward moment where Sidney frowned a little and Charlotte gathered up her senses and started walking. He fell into place beside her and they continued the little ways to the Parker residence, surrounded by the people of the once-village.

“Thank you, Mister Parker,” she said, as they neared the end of their journey. Mrs. Griffiths’ was just before Trafalgar Place and they paused in the road.

He looked at her in slight preoccupied confusion.

“For the cliffside walk,” she continued, head tilting to the side. “It was...inordinately enlightening.” 

He found her eyes then, and his were soft and kind and made her stomach flutter. His smile was appropriately affectionate, if such a gesture could hold that kind of emotion. “I look forward to seeing you tonight, Miss Heywood,” he said, to which she smiled brightly and nodded. “As do I,” she replied.

They lingered another moment or two before turning their backs on each other to complete their walk to their respective destinations. Sidney paused and looked back as Charlotte got to the front steps, allowing himself one private moment of thought and feeling and intent before she disappeared into the house.

Mary had not been waiting for Charlotte specifically, but she did show a special interest in the younger woman’s return.

“Did you make it to your dress fitting?” she asked, standing from her place at the table in the drawing room.

Charlotte felt mildly dazed and blinked herself back to the reality around her at Mary’s words. “I...no.”

Mary moved toward her with a motherly advance. “Did something happen?”

Charlotte suddenly felt flustered anew. “Yes.”

Mary waited expectantly, though she did herd the poor girl to the sofa as it looked like Charlotte could very well faint, despite her naturally hardy nature. “Is there anything I can do?”

Charlotte was thankful for the seat as her heart beat wildly beneath her ribs like a bird in a cage. “I think there is nothing to do but wait for tonight.”

“For the ball?”

“Yes.”

Mary was a smart woman, and it took little else for her to be able to form her own speculations of what had occurred between Sidney and Charlotte. “Well then,” she said, taking Charlotte’s hand in her own. “We shall make you look as elegant as a princess.”

“I’m no princess,” Charlotte laughed, shaken from her mild shock at her emotions.

Mary smiled. “In any case...why don’t you eat something to regain your strength. I shall go with you to your dress fitting. And, if you wish, you can tell me about your... _ walk _ .”

She stood and helped Charlotte to her feet. With her own mother and sisters so far away, Mary was Charlotte’s lone confidant. She had already tried expressing her confusion and emotions to Georgiana but that had no gone over so well.

“Yes, all right,” Charlotte said before she made her way to the kitchens, having no qualms about gathering food for herself. It would do for a distraction, something to ground her whilst her heart wished to carry her off into the sky.

**Author's Note:**

> I love how everyone in the fandom has agreed that Charlotte is a thirsty binch even if she doesn't understand why. I am **living** with this characterization! 
> 
> PS. you're welcome for Charlotte saying Sidney's name, I know y'all have been complaining we never got her calling him by his name in the show (at least not to his face).


End file.
